Wouldn’t it make far more Capitalistic sense for tipped personnel to, instead, receive a living wage of at least $15/hr (tied to inflation for raising) and mandatory profit sharing? Why should a customer have to subsidize a business’s employee?
6
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14 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Who in this scenario is going to open a business. it sounds like you are creating a deadend for
lots of businesses. I want to live in a society with a thriving business environment. people going to work learning skills then being paid more for that knowledge either by his boss or the competitor down the street who noticed what a good job that employee was doing.
rosscann
Level 5
Jan 18, 2018
0
That would be humane and infer the right to a living wage. This administration? Never happen.
msmarple
Level 4
Dec 14, 2017
1
While I agree our Oligarch wouldn’t do this it’s not been proposed by democrats, either. It would have to include profit sharing. I think that should be a common thing for all jobs.
I totally agree. Other first world nations do not have tipped wait staff. The US is so far behind the civilized world and falling harder and faster every day.
HippieChick58
Level 9
Dec 12, 2017
2
In sooo many ways...
You sound like a 'Secular Talk' fan. And I agree.
Lucas20520
Level 6
Dec 12, 2017
1
Not heard of Secular Talk.
From a Capitalistic sense, if you set a minimum wage at $15/hour, you are denying the right to work for people whose labor is worth less than $15/hour. You are also denying people the right to hire help for tasks that are worth less than $15/hour. You are also creating an underground economy where people who have tasks that are worth less than $15/hour hire people whose labor is worth less than $15/hour, but nobody reports the transaction.
If you are trying to solve the problem of "What do we do to help all of these people whose labor is worth less than $15/hour" probably the best answer is the earned income tax credit. People should be allowed to hire and work at rates driven by supply and demand, but for work less than $X per hour, the US Government should provide some form of tax credit of $Y per hour so the people working for very low wages receive more pay for their work.
As far as tipping goes, I don't mind paying a tip after I have received my meal and my service at a restaurant. What drives me nuts is when you stand in line to order at a counter, you order your food, and then they put an IPAD app in front of you that defaults to a 20% or 30% tip. Let me sample your service first, let me eat your food first, then I'll decide whether I will provide a tip.
BD66
Level 8
Dec 12, 2017
1
Everyone’s labor is worth at least $15/hr. It can go up from there. Profit sharing would be far more equitable than customers subsidizing the employees and insentivize everyone to build a successful business.
BD66:
It's amazing that people who can be so rational when it comes to religion can be so oblivious when it comes to economics. Here are the AVERAGE annual wages of 35 developed countries. The AVERAGE wage of someone working in Mexico is about $4.80 per hour. The AVERAGE wage of someone in Hungary is $6 per hour. You are contending that everyone with special needs, who has dropped out of high school, who is suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, etc. is worth at least $15 per hour.
Country PPP Nominal
Luxembourg 62,636 66,770
United States 60,154 60,154
Switzerland 60,124 85,718
Iceland 55,984 73,609
Norway 53,643 63,122
Netherlands 52,833 51,669
Denmark 52,580 64,310
Australia 52,063 59,538
Ireland 51,681 56,787
Belgium 49,587 47,674
Canada 48,403 48,688
Austria 48,295 45,819
Germany 46,389 42,369
France 42,992 40,718
United Kingdom 42,835 46,252
Sweden 42,816 46,804
Finland 42,127 45,584
New Zealand 39,397 44,636
Japan 39,113 39,089
Spain 37,333 30,613
Italy 35,397 32,205
Slovenia 34,965 25,171
Israel 34,023 38,942
South Korea 32,399 29,125
Chile 28,434 18,157
Poland 24,921 12,154
Greece 27,124 19,189
Portugal 24,529 18,333
Czech Republic 26,722 13,587
Estonia 28,621 15,726
Slovak Republic 23,508 13,934
Lithuania 22,949 12,538
Latvia 22,389 14,017
Hungary 22,911 12,157
Mexico 19,311 9,812
Libertarians fuzzy thinking constantly try to make everything a matter of supply and demand.
It's not the labor that pays, it's the job that pays.
People don't get paid for their work, they get paid for their job title. That's why the manager of a burger joint gets paid more than the counter help. If CEO's got paid for their labor they'd all be getting paid minimum wage.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, no matter what work is done. In the old antebellum south, every slave got paid $0.00 per hour, no matter what work they did.
It's slave traders that spread the idea that some peoples work isn't worth as much as others.
Absolutely. As Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman states, "The real job creators are a growing middle class with money to spend." Working class people spend most of the money they make and it multiplies at least 7 fold in the economy. The rich hoard most of their wealth. But, they and the Republicans don't want people to understand that.
wordywalt
Level 9
Dec 12, 2017
3
Say a guy owns a fast food hamburger joint.
If the electric company raises the price of electricity, he raises his prices.
If the food supplier raises the price of meat, he raises his prices.
If the landlord raises the rent on his business, he raises his prices.
Everybody understands that. The price of a hamburger goes up because the price of overhead went up.
But, when the employees want a pay raise? OH NO! " They're trying to run me out of business"!
Customers complain, " I won't pay one more dime for a hamburger to give those lazy employees any more money"!
That's the way the propaganda works.
nipoleon
Level 5
Dec 12, 2017
5
Yes. That's why inflation would trigger an automatic raise. We are long overdue in rethinking how we approach our economic ideas in this nation. They may have worked at one time but are now outdated and regressive.
Most European countries don't have minimum wage laws. They all have strong unions, everybody is in a union. People in what we consider minimum wage jobs get paid much more than ours do in Europe.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of the minimum wage if everybody were unionized. Then we really could have that Free Market paradise the Libertarians talk about.
But, that's not the solution they're looking for, is it?
Thank You! It's rare to hear a pro-union opinion nowadays. IF the US is a consumer based economy then shouldn't the consumers have enough money to consume? Or are we just going to encourage working folks to keep accruing more and more debt so we can try to keep up? It's not like excessive debt ever caused any economic meltdowns right? Even more than education the biggest factor in receiving a higher wage is union membership.
Here in Australia we have a good basic wage (not salary) setup. There's no need for tipping even though there are some businesses trying to established this intrusive system here.
Skyfacer
Level 7
Dec 12, 2017
3
Tipping should actually be illegal. For all intents and purposes, it's a legalized form of bribery.
Then again, it's the only way wait staff can earn a decent living. If restaurants could get away with it, they'd start their wait staff's at five bucks an hour AND pocket all the tips.
webbew1
Level 7
Dec 12, 2017
2
Fed Min Wage for restaurant staff is like $2.75/hr thanks to Herman Caine. Remember Mr 9-9-9-9? Some states have higher minimums but many make only that $2.75. Without tips they wouldn't do the jobs at all. I read that the new tax "reform" allows for execs to get a cut of tips (read as "take entirely" ). Unless we salvage our govt in 2018 we are about to become an incarcerated slave nation.
I remember when $5.00 per hour was a hell of a good wage. Hell, I remember when half that was good money.
This isn’t 1970, anymore.
My feelings exactly. But... until the custom changes, no need to make the workers pay for the weird practice. They didn’t invent it. And I’m pretty sure they’d be happy to see it change.
skado
Level 9
Dec 12, 2017
3
I didn't suggest we should change until such reforms in our customs change.
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